CONSUMERS are making fewer complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) about phone charges, but the amounts disputed have skyrocketed, with one customer copping a $147,908 bill.

The TIO's quarterly publication said consumers who approached the TIO about global roaming charges disputed amounts totalling $8 million between July 1 last year and September 30, 2012 - an average $1.6 million per quarter.

One customer said she had arranged a special plan for making calls during a nine-week European holiday but still received a $147,908 bill after returning to Australia.

Others reported being billed for amounts of $38,000 and $18,000.

"Some consumers who travel overseas for business or leisure are returning to telephone bills that are more expensive than the trips themselves," Ombudsman Simon Cohen said.

"Making sure that consumers are fully informed about roaming charges before and while they are overseas will go some way toward reducing the risk of returning home to a high bill."

New complaints to the TIO decreased by almost 19 per cent between April and June, followed by an 11 per cent dip in July-September.

Mr Cohen said the drop in complaints about customer service, complaint handling and billing was good news for consumers and service providers alike, Mr Cohen said.

But the challenge would be to keep up the positive trend over the summer months, when demand for new services and products was high.

Telecommunications industry body Communications Alliance chief executive John Stanton said the fall-off in complaints pointed to the fact many service providers had started adopting provisions of the new Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code before it came in to force in September.

"The challenge now is to ensure we can achieve industry-wide compliance with the code provisions and continue to achieve higher customer satisfaction and further falls in complaint levels," Mr Stanton said.

"While the latest data are encouraging, it is way too early to relax or declare mission accomplished. Much remains to be done."

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